Charter school topic for public hearing

Friday

Nov 1, 2013 at 3:09 PM

Two institutions of education in Ridgecrest are meeting for the third time, with one asking the other for its sponsorship.

By Mike BodineSTAFF WRITERmbodine@ridgecrestca.com

Two institutions of education in Ridgecrest are meeting for the third time, with one asking the other for its sponsorship. The possible collaboration was met with positive public response.The Sierra Sands Unified School District held a mandatory public hearing upon receipt of a charter renewal petition by the Ridgecrest Charter School. By state law a charter school has to renew its authorization to operate as such, every five years. Part of the process requires the charter school to seek sponsorship from the closest school district. A sponsor is required by law for a charter school either by a nearby district, corporate entity, or ultimately the state's board of education.According to the California Commission on Teaching Credential, “Specific goals and operating procedures for the charter school are detailed in an agreement (or 'charter') between the sponsoring board and charter organizers.”The district receives the petition from the charter school and the holds a public hearing. Sierra Sands has denied the RCS sponsorship three times since the charter school's opening in 2001. In 2008, the district refused the sponsorship based on academic performance deficiencies. RCS now has some of the highest academic numbers in the region and county. Many members of the public spoke on Wednesday, all in favor of the district sponsoring the school. All had a similar reason for why the charter school is so needed and successful — its collaboration with parents and its small class sizes.To a standing room only crowd, SSUSD Superintendent Joanna Rummer opened the meeting loud enough for everyone to hear, “Using my teacher's voice.”There was an overflow room set up at the district's administration headquarters located on Felspar Avenue for the mass of mostly RCS parents.Elsa Hennings, president of the RCS governing board, was the first to address the SSUSD board, saying she hoped the board had read the massive renewal petition. Specifically she hoped the board recognized “the tremendous improvements” the school has made to its financial situation and stability as well as its academic performance.Hennings said that charter schools offer parents and teachers the opportunity to get involved in student's lives and academics, “that overflows into other areas.” Financially, there is approximately $30,000 a year in administration fees that RCS currently pays to the state for sponsorship fees that the district could be collecting, Hennings added.RCS Director Tina Ellingsworth told the board she thought working together could be to the benefit of the students and the community. She also extended an invitation to board members, “Many of you have never even been to the site.”Don Baker, chief operating officer for RCS, told the board he has seen the kids at the charter school succeed. “When they succeed, we succeed,” Baker told the board. Baker added that there are many things “that could be enhanced” by the cooperation of the two. He used the incidents of Friday, Oct. 25 as an example of how cooperating and communication can be to the advantage of each other, and especially the kids. Baker was referring to the murder of one resident, the kidnapping of two others and a high-speed chase by a man firing a gun randomly through the city and near many schools. The SSUSD schools were the only schools in the area to be notified by the Ridgecrest Police Department of the situation that day. A remedy for the lack of communication from the RPD to the independent schools is for the SSUSD to be in charge of disseminating emergency information to the independent schools.Jim Sanders, parent, said he is “an extremely picky parent” especially when it comes to his kid's education. He said he's “found a good fit” with RCS.Sanders said the school's done a fantastic job with the care of his children and the cooperation it has with the parents.Bill Farris, chair of SSUSD board of education, asked Sanders, as a parent, what he thought the difference was between the district's schools and RCS.Sanders answered, “I mean no disrespect,” but the charter has more control of the way “controversial content” is handled. He also said the RCS works with parents.April Griffin, a teacher at SSUSD, said she was very open to collaboration between the two entities. She added that with Common Core, the new state academic standards and assessment tests, coming she was welcome to being able to work with other teachers in the area.April's husband, Vernon Griffin, a math teacher at RCS, said the charter offers a 1-on-1 experience for teachers and students that he has not had in a traditional school setting.He explained his class size went from 31 in a traditional school to 16 at RCS. He added that many of the faculty at RCS have Master's degrees in education and/or fields of concentration.Celese Sanders said she and her husband chose RCS and continue to send their kids there because of the parent involvement the school allows and the small class size. She talked about her shy yet brilliant daughter who Sanders thought would have “got lost” in a bigger class, but was a perfect fit at RCS.Parent Faith Horne told the board that the transition for her daughter from RCS to Burroughs High School could have been made easier had the two entities had a better line of communication. The transfer is made by nearly all students in the area as BHS is the only local high school, except for Immanuel Christian or homeschooling. Carol Lewis, a Fourth grade teacher at RCS and a 24-year veteran of the Fourth grade classroom, told the board, “What really matters is what's best for the kids.”Lewis said she took a cut in pay to work for the charter school but it was worth it. Another parent said that there is a “false sense of dichotomy” between the two schools, but added that she thought SSUSD and RCS complimented each other.The SSUSD board closed the public hearing when no more members of the public had comments. The board made no comments.Farris explained to the crowd after the close of the hearing that the board does not make a decision at this point. The decision from the district will be made in writing at a later date.

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